The Heirs Of Olympus:The Search For The Gods (Book One)
by slothcakes
Summary: A generation after the seven, new demigods are here and ready to take the center stage. After Lenah, Ruby, Jace and Connor all meet, they realize that they aren't ordinary. Not even for normal demigod standards. The world is changing, and now they must team up with the others like them to face their new threat. A threat that might bring an end to the gods themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**I have absolutely no idea what happened to the first version of the story, and I'm sorry, but I think I have fixed it. I will check to make sure there isn't anything wrong with it. Thank you for being patient with us.**

**Oh, and by the way, a little bit more about the story: It is set a generation after the demigods we all know and love. They are still alive, and they are mentioned throughout the stories and may even play a minor role, but the main characters are all our OCs. (By "our" I mean SpahtTheKitty and I, who is collaborating with me to create this story. She doesn't have a Fanfiction as of yet, but I will notify you if she gets one). **

**Disclaimer: We don't own any of Rick Riordan's characters mentioned, only our original characters. **

If I heard one more joke about my performance at the Track meet, I was honestly going to lose it. Sure, I tripped on the final leg while I was ahead. It could happen to anyone.

I marched across the parking lot, steaming silently. I waited for my mother for ten minutes, finally realizing that I was supposed to walk home. Scowling, I picked up my bag off the sidewalk and left James P. Arnoldson Junior High.

It was a pretty school; rows of flowers and neatly-trimmed grass lined the front of the two- story building. It was also quite expensive. Unless, of course, you had my grades. That's one thing I took pride in. My entire life, I had always been at the top of my class. Always getting the highest grades, always winning every Spelling Bee, always always always.

When I was younger people used to whisper behind my back, "It's so inspiring! How someone with a disability can be so gifted!"

I would then proceed to grit my teeth, spin around, and state that my ADHD did not make me disabled, it merely made me special and different.

The adults would then proceed to laugh, patting my head as they walked away, whispering about how it was so upsetting that I was in denial, and how it was my parent's fault for making me think that there was nothing wrong with me.

Shaking my thoughts away, I turned on the corner, hearing faint sobbing.  
>"My precious children...gone forever, never to see them again,"<p>

I poked my head into the alleyway, and saw a woman curled up into a ball in the shadows, crying to herself.

"Hey, are you okay?" I gasped, realizing what the woman had said. "Were your kids kidnapped? You should really call the police. Here, I think I have my cell phone in my-

I froze as the woman rose to her full height. Her torso was of a beautiful woman's. With the exception, of course, of her tiny, sharp fangs. Her lower body, however, was that of a serpent's. Her gleaming green tail swished around, the scales slightly glowing in the street lights. A sound was coming from the back of her throat: a mixture of growling and hissing. I stuck to my spot, frozen in fear. I'd never seen anything like it...

A large, warm hand grabbed mine, pulling me away, but not before slamming my head against the wall of the alleyway.

As I sat on the sidewalk, consciousness slipping away from me, I could make out violent hisses and growls. All of a sudden, the hissing stopped. That had to be good. I smiled slightly to myself before everything went black.

_I stood in an empty hall, great marble columns thickly covered with ivy surrounding me. I __sat down against one, waiting for something to happen._

_Almost as if on cue, two people dressed in thick, dark robes marched in, muttering quietly to each other._

_"ENOUGH!" The taller of the two yelled, obviously a man._

_"Now, now, you mustn't overreact. It's only natural for one of them to want to stray away from their family and join us. The only thing left now is to figure out whom." It became clear that the other person was a woman, much younger than him._

_"The granddaughter of Athena and Poseidon?" The man questioned, adjusting his robes and standing up a little straighter._

_The woman shook her head, almost as if chastising him. "Someone so tightly bound within their grasp? Never! Though she may be powerful, she will not be worth the effort. No, no, someone who will come to us a little easier. Perhaps the son of Hephaestus,"_

_The man looked down at her. "Yes. He and the granddaughter are always fighting, correct? We make them angry with each other, offering weaker one a home with us, where _he _can be king!"_

_I shuffled a little bit. They hadn't noticed me yet, so I assumed that I must be invisible. It was easy to believe, considering everything I had seen that day._

_The man looked around, hearing the shuffling. "We are being watched," he declared, adjusting his robes again. He grabbed the woman's hand, and they disappeared._

_The scene changed to a vast, open strawberry field with two people arguing roughly. A boy and a girl, who looked to be about my age._

_"What is _wrong_ with you, Jace?!" The girl screeched. The girl was tense and her body was in ready position as if she was ready to lunge at any moment. Her messy hair was gathered into a ponytail. But, the odd thing was that although the top of her hair was a glossy black, it gradually lightened into a sandy blonde._

_"Me? Me? You're the one who pushed me in the lake!" retorted the boy, who must have been Jace. He looked tall, but he wasn't lanky. In fact he was quite muscular, as if he constantly carried heavy objects. His face was flushed with anger, a fiery determination overtaking his features._

_The girl huffed, pushing her long, wavy hair back. "Only because you disturbed my meditation!"_

_Jace threw his hands in the air. "What kind of a 14 year-old meditates? That goes to show how weird you are!"_

_The girl put her hands on her hips, scowling at Jace. "I'll have you know that it helps me get in control of my powers! Oh wait sorry, did I hurt your feelings because all you have is-"_

_Another boy with dirty blonde hair separated the two of them, frowning. He also seemed to be around fourteen. "Seriously, guys? You're fighting _again? _I'm serious, if I see you fighting again in the next 72 hours I'll throw you to the harpies. Jace, David's asking you to help him over at Bunker Five. Lenah, your mom is calling you. Please, I'm begging you, just leave each other _alone,"

_Lenah and Jace sighed, heading their separate ways. I decided to follow the other boy._

_He arrived at what seemed like a normal, plain-looking cabin. At second glance, though, I realized that it looked as if it was made of solid gold. Intrigued, I followed him inside._

_"What's up, Conor?" A tall, lanky boy with hair dyed bright green called out, grinning._

_Conor gave him a thumbs up. "Doing just as great as I was five minutes ago, Jacob. You know, except for the whole Lenah and Jace thing."_

_Jacob nodded sympathetically, turning to talk to a girl with silky straight short auburn hair._

_Conor sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. Just then, a little girl with long blonde pigtails came running towards him. "Conor! Conor! Chiron needs you!" She yelled before spinning around and running outside._

_Conor followed her outside, heading for a large, blue barn house. Outside stood a man with the body of a horse and the torso of a man: Chiron._

_"Hey, are you doing?" Conor waved, grinning._

_Chiron frowned. "Not too well, my child, not to well. I must ask you though, Conor. Have you gotten any…_visions?"

_Conor shook his head. "Why?"_

_Chiron sighed. "Things are changing. Something new is beginning. I just wanted to see if I was the only one,"_

_"Maybe one of the other Apollo kids?" Conor suggested hopefully._

_"No. You are the most powerful. Also, I feel you will be a big part of it. You, and your friends, Jace and Lenah. As well as another girl. She will be joining us soon, I suspect. Now, go ahead and continue with your activities. Notify me at once if you see anything, yes? If one of your friends see anything and tell you about it, come to me then, too. I wonder if The Oracle has another prophecy for us…" Chiron trailed off and went inside of the building, leaving Conor to stand there on his own._

_Once again the scene distorted, focusing on the boy, Jace, hammering at a large piece of metal in the forges._

_Sweat was beaded across his forehead, and his hair and face looked red from the gleam of the fire. He held out his palm, fire dancing across it. Then, he touched his hand to the flame to make it larger._

_I gasped. Another thing to add onto the list of crazy things I had seen today. A boy with fire in his hands…_

_Jace stood up straight, stretching and brushing soot off of his clothes. He looked around to see if anyone else was in the room. When he didn't see anyone, he shrugged, and headed outside, turning off the lights to the bunker._

_Jace made his way to a large arena filled with benches, training dummies, and people dueling. He sat down on a bench next to Conor and Lenah._

_Based off of the look he gave her, it was obvious they weren't friends. Well, that and the fighting I had seen earlier._

_I had assumed that Conor was friends with the girl, but now I realized that he barely knew her. Maybe because of her rivalry with the boy?_

_I stopped myself. It was a bad habit of mine to over-analyze the situation. Whatever was going on with them didn't matter, because they were total strangers.I__ sat down next to Conor. He jumped a little, turning towards me. "Woah. You scared me,"_

_My eyes widened. "Y-You can…You can see me?"_

_"Of course I can see you!"_

_"B-but I thought I was dreaming," I stammered._

_Conor stood up. "You're the girl. The one that Chiron was telling me about. Of course! I mean, you look different than I imagined you,"_

_I scowled at him. "Thanks," I said sarcastically. I hadn't even actually met him yet and he was already making fun of me. _

_"Wait, no, that's not what I meant, just that you're a lot...um, you have brown hair. And it's shorter than I thought. And I didn't think you had freckles…"_

_With him turned towards me, I got a better look at him. He had messy dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He was handsome, but his appearance was mauled by a long scar that climbed up from his shoulder blade and ended mid-cheek._

_"Hey, Conor, who're you talking to?" Jace looked at his friend with an eyebrow raised._

_Conor shook his head. "No one. I just...gotta go talk to Chiron. She's gonna need all the help she can get if she's already having nightmares."_

_"Who are you talking about? Why does it include Chiron? She?" Jace called out, but the scene was already changing._

_I was now standing in front of the big blue house again. The same man from before, Chiron, was standing with a teenage boy who had the legs of a goat. Or was it a donkey? I couldn't really tell._

_"The girl, she's gonna be in some real danger real soon. I can feel it in my ears," The teenager said._

_Chiron nodded. "Yes, I know, I know. What was her name again? Ruby, was it?"_

_The teenager shook his head vigorously. "Yes, and mister, if I don't get there right away, she'll die. I don't even know why a monster is on her trail if she doesn't even know who she is."_

_"They must sense it, too. If a monster is already attacking her, the situation must be more urgent than I thought."_

_"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can I go now?_

_Chiron sighed. "Very well, Vincent. Leave at once. I'll speak to her parent. Bring her _straight_ here. No funny business. Now go,"_

_Just then, Conor came running to Chiron. "The girl, I saw her, said she was dreaming, she's in, trouble," Connor said in between breaths, panting._

_Chiron nodded. "You're a little late. I already know. Vincent just left to get her,"_

_Conor opened his mouth to speak._

My dream was cut short, and my eyes fluttered open. In front of me stood the same teenager, but his furry legs were covered up. He leaned against the wall, smirking. He reached down his hand, helping me up. "About time you woke up. I came just in time to save you from getting your butt kicked. C'mon, I've got somewhere to be."

**Thank you so much for reading! Please follow, rate, and review! The next chapter will be up very very soon.**

**-Minty**


	2. Chapter 2

****PLEASE READ TO BE FILLED IN ON LENGTH BETWEEN UPDATES****

**Hi. You guys probably don't remember who I am. Okay, I know I haven't posted in...how long? A couple of months? Let's explain. Spaht, the other writer working on this, was experiencing EXTREME writer's block. After two months, I gave up on her and took the chapter into my own hands. I didn't do much better than she did. After taking forever to complete this boring filler chapter, I sent it to editing almost two weeks after I finished it and never got it back. To this day. School was stressful. I just transferred, and I faced a lot of issues. I don't know about Spaht's issues. Go ask her if you want those. Please don't think we don't enjoy writing, because we love it. We really do. Adjusting was just hard, and these chapters are difficult to write because we're so excited for the action coming up and are eager just to get to it. And at the end of the day, this is just something we do on top of our daily lives for entertainment and nothing else. We just post it because maybe it will entertain you too. The amount of fan art and little tidbits of stories we have built up in the last two months is astounding, and we are seriously considering posting it once we get far enough into the story. Trust me, when we get there, updates will be extremely fast because we'll be so eager to write. Right now, though, motivation kinda runs low. So, we'll be trying to get through these chapters quickly. They'll be short, but hopefully they'll come often. And Spaht and I have come up with a resolution: The chapters from, now on, will be unedited. of course we'll proofread, but we won't be sending it to be completely edited because that process can take two weeks or more to make it perfect. We will honestly be trying to get more chapters to you, and I will be uploading the next chapter right now as well.**

**~Minty**

_Lenah's POV_

I'm scared. Scared out of my freaking mind.

It just happens to be my first time out of Camp Half-Blood. My parents have always been really protective about me going out of camp. Apparently I'm prone to attracting monsters. Although, I don't know how they would know, considering I've never even been outside of camp.

I hear Conor calmly trying to tell me not to freak out. In all honesty though, I can't really help it. Not only is it my first time out of the camp, nobody knows that we've left. We could die right here and no one would even know where to collect our bodies from. Or that we even died. We'd just be MINESTHA (Missing In Not Even Supposed To Happen Action) for twenty years until a couple of unfortunate little girls came across our skeletons while skipping through the forest picking flowers.

Someone steps on a twig behind me. I spin around, my heart thumping. "Jace, be careful!"

He smirks, pushing past me. "It's not my fault you've developed a deadly fear of sticks."

I scowl at him, my hip jutting out a bit as my hands are automatically placed there. His smirk grows wider. "Looks like you've finally found your confidence, Lenah. I'm so proud of you."

I open my mouth to retort a sharp comeback, but I start to think about leaving camp again. A sharp pang hits me, and my mouth flies shut. No, no, no, I had a good comeback! Jace chuckles lightly to himself, and continues walking, making a big show of not stepping over twigs on the ground. For the first time, I'm too upset to actually care.

Now, you're probably wondering why we are even out here in the first place. It's a long story, but I'm pretty sure you have time for that. After all, you're listening to an ADHD-ridden demigod give you the inside view on her crazy, mixed up, way too sensitive views on leaving camp. Yup, you're as busy as a person could get. (For you people like Jace, that totally wasn't sarcasm).

Anyway, this was way way back three hours ago when the three of us were in the training arena. I was having a battle of the glares with Jace when, all of a sudden, Conor strikes up a conversation with thin air.

I don't really know Conor, but I was pretty sure he didn't have any imaginary friends.

"Woah! You scared me," he exclaimed. His face softened into a smile. "Of course I can see you!" Now he was really smiling. "You're the girl. The one that Chiron was telling me about." Chiron's involved? "Of course! I mean you look different than I imagined you." Imagined? Wait, what? "Wait, no, that's not what I meant, just that you're a lot… um, you have brown hair. And it's shorter than I thought. And I didn't think you had freckles…" he trailed off, his face falling.

Ouch. Poor boy got shot down…

"Hey, Conor, who're you talking to?" Jace popped the question.

Conor shook his head. "No one." Uh, huh. "I just… gotta go talk to Chiron. She's gonna need all the help she can get if she's already having nightmares."

"Who are you talking about? Why does it include Chiron? She?" Jace called out. Jace and I simultaneously looked at each with the same he's-not-getting-away-face. First time we ever agreed on anything.

We scrambled up and chased him out of the arena. We were a little behind, but we caught up with him at the Big House, but by that time he was almost done with his conversation with Chiron.

"You're a little late. I already know. Vincent just left to go get her," Chiron said.

"What's happening?" I asked. Chiron then went into a deep explanation of demigod nightmares. Yeah, yeah, like I've had enough of those.

He then starts talking about a girl. "Her name is Ruby. She's a demigod, but one that's very powerful, like all of you."

"And, why should she concern us? There are plenty of other powerful demigods. Heck, one of our parents is practically the embodiment of power. Why should we," he motions dramatically at us, "Care about this 'Ruby?'" Jace asks.

"Well, I think she can answer some of your questions." All three of our faces shot up because of this notion.

"We have to find her," breathed Conor.

Chiron goes on with his thought, "I put Vincent on her tail, but sadly I don't think that'll do. Oh, well…" he trails off.

He trots away, leaving us standing there with our minds blown. "That's it. We're going after her." I blurted out as a suggestion.

"Great idea!" exclaimed Conor.

"Wait, what? No!" I stammered.

"Oh, so Lenah is afraid?" Jace started to smirk.

I was red, and I knew it.

That Son of Tartarus. I didn't have a comeback for that, and the look on his face told me that he knew it.

My hands automatically crossed across my chest. I gave a big huff and started to march to the border. I was a little hesitant to cross it. I stopped right in front of it and stood there with a wary face.

I was contemplating my choices when I felt a hard shove on my back. My body went tumbling down to the ground.

Oh, so that's how you wanna play.

The headband wrapped on my shoulder melted into cool, calm liquid. Obeying my every move, I willed it to seep into the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jace take a step forward. I planted my patch of water there.

His foot, landing on the puddle of mud, slipped out from underneath him. His arms went flailing, and he lands in the mud with a loud splash!

I quickly scrambled up to my feet and drained the water from the ground. It trailed up my leg and snaked back to its coiled position on my arm.

Before I could be confronted by a red, angry Jace, I quickly ran across the border, leaving behind the calm, peaceful life I've known for so long.

Once we enter the central of the city, we are bombarded with telekehines. They come running, no I mean waddling, towards us with bared teeth, and hands outstretched with fingers curled into sharp claws. I don't know how the mortals perceived the seal like dog creatures all around, but they seemed to not be bothered by it.

Maybe it looked like we were nice teenagers petting puppies… One puppy nipped my hand. "Ouch! Bad puppy!"

Like fog clearing up on a sunny day, the mist parted revealing a snarling telekhine glaring down at me. My hand is outstretched in front of it, and only then do I notice the large red slash on my hand, bubbling up with blood.

I scream and pull back. I fumble for Anameikti, my special dagger, with my not injured hand. I guess I was going to fight left-handed today…

With my thumb I pressed the button on the hilt of Anameikti. The knife elongates into the size of a sword, with perfect balance. I slash at the telekhine in front of me and it topples backward, but doesn't fall down. Its body crumples into a storm of dust that flies away with the wind.

Before I know it, we are surrounded by a hoard of telekehines of rainbow colors. I feel kind of bad that I'm not killing them in rainbow order, but I don't have a choice. I make an oath to myself that I would the next time,though.

As I lift my sword, prepared to slash another colorful puppy to bits, I hear faint scuffling and mumbling from somewhere behind me. A familiar voice says, "Stay behind me! I'm skilled!" Followed by a "I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" from an obviously irritated female.

I finish off the telekehine, and turn around, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Vincent!" I yell, grinning.

"We'll take care of the formalities when I'm done saving this lovely lady here from the telekehines currently threatening our lives," Vincent calls back, and I see the girl scoff and cross her arms over her chest. I'm about to take in her features when I hear a waddling creature coming up from behind me. I slash the telekehine, and see Conor and Jace panting, obviously having taken care of the rest of them. How did we kill all of those telekehines so quickly? And with only a red cut (which was now starting to sting a lot) to remember it? Something was off.

I shake my thoughts away. I just have the jitters. It's understandable.

I turn around, this time turning to face the girl. When she catches my gaze, she drops her arms and smiles at me. I give her a giant grin back, finally able to get a good look at what I was up against. She was petite, and didn't look very athletic besides her toned legs, which signaled that she probably ran on a school team. Well, that, and her track uniform.

Conor had finally caught his breath, and was now making his way towards the girl. "So you're Ruby," he said, grinning like crazy.

She raised her eyebrow at me, giving me a look that said "What's the matter with him?" before settling her gaze on Conor.

"And you're the boy," she said simply.

"My name's Con-"

"I know your name," she was smiling a bit now, and Conor looked extremely pleased. What was the matter with him?

Jace walks over to us, laughing slightly to himself.

"What?" I demand, placing my hands on my hips.

"Oh Lenah, you're as oblivious as ever," he says. I know he's just trying to annoy me, but it's working.

"Just tell me what the heck you're laughing about, you idiot!" I snap. Ruby snaps her head towards me, but Conor doesn't even flinch.

She shrugs and continues to talk to Conor about whatever they were talking about.

"Conor's got a little crush!" Jace whispers to me. He laughs again, running a hand through his messy hair. I almost start laughing right then and there, he thinks he looks so cool, but I'm curious about Conor's "little crush".

"On wh- oh."

"Took you long enough to figure it out."

I sigh. "Jace, I honestly don't want to pick a fight with you right now. So, I'm saying this in the nicest way possible. Please shut up."

He looks shocked for a second, fully expecting a sharp comeback in return, but I don't give him a second glance. I'm too focused on the new girl.

There's something strange about her, and a nasty feeling tugs in my gut. I realize slowly who she is. I realize that her being here is the beginning of something so big that my puny half-blood brain can't even begin to understand part of it.

A couple minutes later, I feel a strong hand shaking me. My eyes fly open, and I spin around, slapping Jace right across the face.

"Lenah! What are you doing! Don't you realize that we're under attack?!" He isn't even affected by my slap. What a waste.

I snap out of it. Attack? I reach for my sword, and realize that it isn't there. My heart thumping, I search frantically for it. A telekhine comes waddling towards me, surprisingly fast. I have no defense. No sword. I had stashed my headband away in my backpack. I had been so nervous during the journey it kept on going into it's liquid state without my say-so. For the first time in my life I'm absolutely helpless.

I try to run. I really do. But I'm frozen in fear, my body not responding due to the fact that my only weapon lies 10 feet away. I can't get it now. It's too late.

The telekhine lunges at me, sinking it's claws into my skin. It was old, or weak. It had barely any strength. I could take it on. I felt adrenaline rush into me, and I pushed the telekehine off of me. It staggers onto it's feet, and grabs onto whatever is nearest to it.

That thing is Vincent's neck.

He yells out as the claws dig into the sides of his neck, but my surge of insane strength is gone. I quickly go to get my sword, my fear of the moment fading away with the aspect of my friend in mortal peril. Everyone else was too busy with the other telekehines to save Vincent. If they rushed to his aid, we would all be doomed. It was all up to me.

I lunge at the telekhine, and it releases Vincent, turning into dust. It was all over. Vincent was okay.

But Vincent wasn't moving. I shook him with the small amount of strength I had left. I think the other's rushed to us, but I wasn't sure.

My vision was too blurred up by tears to see anything anyway.

I think I felt Conor's hand on my shoulder. I didn't look up at him. I didn't look up at anyone.

All I could focus on was Vincent's body, pale and unmoving.

All I could focus on were the deep cuts on the side of his face and along his neck, bleeding slightly, but mostly just taunting me.

I had thought that the telekhine was old. I was wrong. It was just smart, appearing weak at first but lunging where it wasn't expected.

I feel the guilt seep into me. It isn't like anything I've ever felt before. I'm so used to being in control, always getting my way. Even in fights with Jace I could come up with a sharp comeback or just get him back later. There wasn't anything I could do now. I had been too helpless. I hadn't lunged at the telekhine quickly enough. It's my fault that Vincent is on his way to the underworld by now.

It's because I had been too weak in the face of danger that Vincent had died.

I hear something from behind me. Not again I think miserably, staggering upwards through blurry vision while clutching my sword with the small ounce of energy and courage I still had left.

After a bit more shuffling, a pigeon emerges from the tree, followed closely by the rest of its flock. I guess two monster encounters within the same 10 minute period made us a little jumpy.

I can practically hear the sigh of relief, and turn around to take one last look at Vincent.

Except I can't.

Because Vincent isn't there anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**As promised, here's the next chapter as well.**

**~Minty**

_Conor's POV_

When Lenah finally woke up, she was sobbing like crazy. The second her eyes fluttered open, Ruby ran forwards to her, but paused when she saw the flood of tears staining her cheeks. Jace and I stood a little ways away, the situation making us uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, obviously trying hard to sound caring and concerned. She was doing a good job. .

We all watched as Lenah broke into a series of whispers, tears, gasps for breath and hiccups.

"Poor baby," Ruby cooed, sounding so comforting I almost curled up on the ground and started sucking my thumb

"Yeah, um, she _would_ be a poor baby if we had understood a word she said," Jace pointed out, and I couldn't help but agree with him. Drat, I had really wanted to suck my thumb.

"VINCENT'S GONE!" Lenah cried out, choking back a sob.

"Ummm Lenah, he's been missing for three days already. I thought you were awake for that part," Jace says, obviously feeling uneasy towards the waterfall pouring down her face.

"What?" She hiccuped, wiping at her nose. Ruby winced as Lenah hastily wiped her hand on her shorts. "But he just died! And then the telekehines took him! Or at least, I _think_ it was the telekihines. What do you mean three days? And awake?"

I sigh, running a hand through my hair and shoot a look at Jace, and nod my head towards Lenah. He grins and shakes his head, leaving me with no other choice but to sigh again. I look hopefully towards Ruby, but she just smiles sweetly and shakes her head no. Oh well.

"So, well, Vincent's not dead," I start, and, realizing I shouldn't give Lenah false hope, quickly add "But we're not sure. He could be dead, but from what we know, he's not. Erm, when we came to, ahem, _collect_ Ruby," she shoots me a look, as if my using the word collect as the verb in that sentence suddenly made her an object. I ignore her and continue. "Vincent was nowhere to be found. The second you found out, you passed out, and here we are, three days later. Oh yeah, and this girl," I jab a finger at Ruby. "Has been taking on the role of the housemaid/nanny/cook for the last few days and never even left your side."

Lenah looked up and smiled gratefully at Ruby, who was blushing slightly.

I couldn't help but wish _I _were the one to be knocked out for three days.

As Ruby and Lenah begin chattering away like old friends, I watch silently, still glued to my spot. I finally turn to grab a granola bar from my backpack and see Jace out of the corner of my eye, smiling and watching me. I give him a look, and instead of backing off, he comes and wraps a hand around my shoulder. "Ruby, _Conor _over here has something quite _important _to tell you." I freeze up.

"N-no I don't!" I protest.

"_Yes, _you _do. _Ruby, Conor's been telling me constantly about the _thing_ he wanted to tell you."

He shoots me a look that's says _Say something or by tomorrow I won't have anymore face to punch._

As you can see, Jace and I have a very friendly relationship.

"I was just gonna say that I thought it was really nice of you to take care of us and Lenah," I improvise, and shoot Jace a smug look.

He sighs, and gives Lenah a knowing smile. If Lenah and Jace were actually _smiling _at each other...

Jace and I had always been best friends. When I was nine years old, I had ran away from home. My mom had died two years before, and ever since her death, my father had become.._strange. _Anyway, I thought I could handle living on the streets by myself. Turns out I couldn't.

If it hadn't been for Jace and his Satyr, Jonah, I probably would have died during my first week. Jace had been making his way to Camp Half Blood, and Jonah thought it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to tag along. Two demigods in one trip probably made him look pretty impressive to the tree nymphs.

Anyway, the double demigod scent attracted a particularly nasty hellhound. When it came time to fight, we both surged forward to protect the other, although we had only been traveling with each other for two days. Our friendship went from there. I remember when we arrived at camp though, I was thrilled to be there, and thrilled to be claimed by Apollo. Lenah was waiting for us, near Thalia's tree. Lenah and Jace took one look at each other and decided they hated each other. Well, at least Lenah did. Jace's temper just took over when Lenah insulted him for the first time. They could have a TV show: _Rivals for Five Years and Counting _or maybe_The Best Of Enemies. _

I don't know why they hate each other so much. Maybe Lenah wrongly accused Jace of stealing her blocks in preschool.

"You guys want to start packing up?" I ask, finally coming out of my reality show-filled stupor. I see Jace, Lenah, and Ruby scrambling around, camp nearly completely tidied up. I rush over, trying awkwardly to help. Finally I give up and just pick up my backpack, ready to leave.

Lenah, despite the fact she just woke up from a three-day coma (or maybe because of it) she was the most,erm, bouncy (?) out of the group. She was practically skipping through the streets of Manhattan and through the clusters of trees. So much for false hope.

Ruby approaches me. "Conor, if you don't mind me asking, where'd you get that scar? Right there?" She reaches out as if she's going to touch it, but brings her arm back at the last second.

Did she really just ask that?

OF COURSE I mind.

"None of your business," I say coldly, and continue to walk forward. I can see the hurt look on her face, and it almost makes me feel bad enough to say sorry and tell her. Almost.

Lenah's happy demeanor is gone. She wraps an arm around Ruby. "He got it from a monster. He doesn't like to talk about it."

She doesn't know how right she is.

"Oh," Ruby says quietly, and I catch her sneaking a glance at the white scar. I huff and pull my shirt collar up higher.

"So," I call behind me, attempting to change the subject. "Anybody want to hear a haiku?" I grin as I hear Jace and Lenah groan. Lenah may not know me, but she sure knows about Apollo kid's amazing poems.

"Oh, I didn't know you like poetry! Lets hear a haiku!" Ruby chirps, oblivious to Lenah and Jace's declarations of disgust. Maybe she was eager to change the subject too.

"Okay. _My name is Conor. I am super duper uper cool guys. My haiku is done."_

"Dude, you've told me that one! At least get some original material." Jace is smiling, though, so that was a better reaction than the first time. The first time I almost got punched. More examples of our very friendly, non-violent brotherly relationship.

Lenah nods, unable to say anything. "Well, I mean, I know Apollo poems were bad, but sir, you've surpassed my expectations with your horribleness." She comes over and pats me on the shoulder.

I don't get a response from Ruby. She's too busy laughing her head off.

"That...was...HILARIOUS! Wow, I've NEVER heard a poem worse than that! Conor, you should seriously-" She starts laughing again.

"Wow, thanks for supporting me Ruby! That was sarcasm. You can laugh now. Hey, maybe I should go into comedy!"

"With poems and a face like that, you're sure to get tons of laughs." Lenah pipes up, and Ruby starts laughing again. "See, you've already got one fan laughing at your excuse of your face."

"Hey, at least I don't sit in a corner crying hysterically for three days. Talk about hilarious." I get glares from Ruby and Lenah. Okay, not funny. Maybe comedy isn't the best idea.

After twiddling my thumbs awkwardly for a few moments, Ruby decides to ask some questions. Ah, good old Athena kids and their curiousness. Wait, what? How did I know that? I feel a sharp pang in my forehead, but I shake it off. Little visions here and there, it happens. All part of the deal of being the coolest kid of the coolest god. Well, actually, the warmest.

"So, all I've heard so far is that I'm going to some kind of camp. For demigods, right? That's so cool. I've read all of the myths a billion times over. I'd love to be a daughter of Athena. But which one of my parents is really not my parent? How do I know? I look like both of them. Or at least, I think I do. What does Athena look like? What do any of the gods look like? Do they get to choose their appearances? If they do, is it possible for me to inherit any traits? Gosh, I'm so confused!"

"And I'm so tired. Can we just keep it down for a while? I think I'm getting a migraine. And I don't even get migraines!" Jace complains from up ahead. I don't know when he rushed ahead of me, but he did. So much for being tired, Mr. Quicky-Pants.

Lenah shoots Jace a look and wraps an arm around Ruby. "The answer to your questions are, I don't know, I don't know, okay then, pretty and pretty scary, pretty godly, I think so, I have absolutely no idea. I have a question for you too. Where do you get all those questions?" She rumples Ruby's hair affectionately, and she smooths it down quickly, but she's smiling.

"Hey, it's gonna get dark soon, you guys want to set up camp?" Jace calls back once again, way ahead of the rest of us. I get another pang, and a flashing image shoots ahead of me, and I have the same lingering feeling as when you see someone's body image flash in front of you when you're all alone.

Lenah frowns. "We only had two days of walking on the way here. It can't be much farther. I say we keep on walking. If we don't get there by darkness, you can just light a fire while we set up. No biggie."

"Ooh, the cool hand fire? I agree with Lenah. It can't be that much farther. We should keep going." Ruby pipes up.

"Monkey see, monkey do." Jace mutters. "Wait. How did you know about the fire? Did Conor or Lenah tell you something?"

Ruby shakes her head. "Oh no, I saw you in my dreams."

Lenah whistles, laughing.

Ruby blends in with the fading sunset. "Wait, no, I meant that I saw a vision of him when I was passed out. Actually, I saw all of you. And some creepy arguing couple. Or were they siblings? I don't remember."

"Creepy couple? What did they say?" Lenah sounds worried.

Ruby frowned. "Nothing, just something about the granddaughter being too powerful and making the son of Hephaestus king. I don't know what they were talking about."

We all exchange concerned glances, and the pains come back.

"Whatever. Doesn't matter. What do you think Conor, should we stay or leave?" Jace says, trying to act nonchalant but the worry at the edge of his voice is evident to someone who's known him as long as I have.

"Eh, I don't car-" I'm hit with the worst pang I've had so far, and I'm reminded of my comfortable bed and siblings with healing powers. "Actually, let's keep going. I want my ducky pillow."

Jace rolls his eyes, and nods. "Fine," he says grudgingly.

After maybe another half hour of walking, the forest starts to thin and we find ourselves at the base of half blood hill, Thalia's tree in sight.

As we begin the short trek uphill, I catch something in the corner of my eye.

"Oh come on, we were almost there," I mutter silently. I put my hand out to stop everyone else, and put my finger to my lips. I don't know how visible it is in the almost complete darkness that overwhelms us, the only light coming from the hall in the distance.

I slowly take out my sword, being sure not to make any noise as I slid it out of the scabbard.

At my cue, Jace and Lenah did the same. Ruby looked around desperately, and ended up just picking up a handful of rocks.

The creature came back into view, and I got ready to stab it straight in the back. That was, until I saw the straight blonde hair.

"Skye?"


End file.
